I created the UK Beaders site and group as so many UK beaders have found it difficult to find the kind of information they need all in one place, be it suppliers, tutorials, events or anything else bead or jewellery related. I'm constantly adding more features and doing all I can to promote beading and jewellery making in the UK.

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Saturday, May 08, 2010

This spring several things have prompted me to consider the fact that I've been feeling somewhat underwhelmed and disenchanted when it comes to beading. That's not to say that I've lost my love of beads and beading, but I realised that there are things that I have been allowing to hold me back and drain my creativity.

I've come to realise that there is a point where in place of the enjoyment of making or collecting things you love you feel bogged down by an over sized collection of items you've hoarded.

It feels hard to let go of the past but there are beads, techniques and styles I'm no longer interested in. Pieces that I can now see no longer live up to the quality I expect to achieve in my work. Looking at my bead collection it sometimes felt like I "couldn't see the wood for the trees" and was drowning in a sea of beads.

Taking the time to completely go through my bead stash and remove the items I know I won't miss at all (and some that I'll only miss a little) has been truly liberating. Reorganizing all those half finished (or only just started) projects into a system where they can be seen, and not forgotten, invites me to work on them.

But I'm now facing the same trial with my jewellery. I fear this is going to be a lot harder. Knowing that I must dismantle, sell cheaply or give away those pieces that are not my best, feels like erasing history. Though I will have photos and memories to keep it is still hard to recognise and accept that my beading has moved on and so must I. Continuing to keep or offer for sale items that don't show me at my best is guaranteed to destroy both my creativity and sense of worth.

The past should be a platform to launch ourselves from not an anchor to keep us in place and stop us from exploring new directions.

I know that I am the only one holding myself back and that to free my own creativity I need to allow myself a fresh start.

So here's to spring cleaning your creativity! I hope that you to will take a moment to ponder on the wonders of springtime, and let your creativity grow like a flower in the sun.